propelling.ca

intelligent life

and, we used to think it was all about book learning!
the way people learn to learn has a lot to do with the development of their perception

this model comes from gunter pauli, ZERI Education Initiative
www.zeri.org

and, my friend Jules was telling me yesterday that he thinks there could be four types of education: education for freedom, education for creativity, education for productivity, and education for sustainability, at a basic level

what are the basics?
what intelligent capacities do we have?
what do we really need to learn, and how will we be taught how to learn?

>laura

certified sustainability freaqk

i don't know when i lost my cool, i don't need to know how much of it i imagined in the first place, i do know i feel more compassionate and more like a supernerd each day

its like going to Chicoutimi, Quebec for a month and a half and the only language spoken there is French, wondering when someone is going to crack the rule, and break into English, and it doesn't happen, the mindshift that occurs is the first step towards fluency

here, the immersion is in sustainability, a way of thinking, a way of life, an optimistic worldview, and ultimately a fluency in this new language is beginning to emerge.

its been a weird year and hard to describe, a lot of personal growth has taken place, some subtlely and some in huge spurts like latent potential suddenly given the right conditions. its OK that others are far ahead because my stuntedness has been about quality refinement not growth. i tell myself. and it's OK that this program has allowed so much personal growth, the investment will not be wasted in the longer term.

>laura

solo swimming in swedish lakes

dipped! marking the open season on lakes, one full week before last year's Victoria Day immersion!

>laura

swimming in the baltic

working up to it, last year i was in a canadian lake on may 24th, how cold can the sea be? came really close today, there was some serious talk about diving from canoes this morning, but time became an issue.

it was also a real possibility in my mind when they lit the giant bonfires in celebration of spring. the idea of warming up really fast once emerged had some appeal. that was a few weeks ago.

the countdown is on, need some brave co-swimmers to join me in breaking the ice!

>laura

city mouse, country mouse

people who choose to live in cities constantly reference human thought and development, everything they do is in reference to other human beings, buildings streets and store-fronts designed by human beings reflect back. all of their natural experiences are mediated by other human beings, water is delivered in pipes made by humans, food is packaged and made available by other human beings, even parks are consciously designed and managed by other human beings. the common wildlife in cities, gulls, rats, squirrels, having adapted, reference human patterns more than natural cycles. the stars in the city shine dimly

i have struggled with the choice of where to live, living rurally feels like a better choice in many ways, being closer to natural cycles. when i lived rurally, i missed cafes, modern dance and running into random combinations of friends and acquaintenances on the street. someone in the country actually told me that i was, without a doubt, "a city girl", and not being sure what their evidence was, i've got to admit that it seems to be true

people often want to get out of cities, to "get back to nature", to remember natural cycles. there's an urge that happens less often for some, more often for others, to get "perspective". on the human project perhaps, and reflect its value in the larger picture?

i like the smell of the woods every day and the tides coming in and out of the harbour, these things are relaxing, reminding me that a frantic full-time city job is not worth it, no matter what i am getting paid, or how important other humans believe the work i am doing to be.

when i lived rurally, i was commuting to a city job four days a week, working on a small farm and relaxing the other days. this was hard on the head, not invested in the rhythms of the rural place, a visitor in the city. yet, it still seems like this is the necessary bridge, to bring these two very different experiences of life together

now contemplating alternating six months in a rural place and six months in a city, maybe this is too dramatic in its even split, but the idea is nagging, "you have to do both!", and somehow richly experience each way

cities need a lot of love and care, people living in cities are forgetting how to eat good food, how to recognize the sounds in the woods, how to take care of natural spaces in a collaborative way. can't avoid the challenge of urban sustainability, and lots of smart people are thinking about how it could happen:

http://www.livablecities.org/
http://www.icsc.ca/
http://www.unhabitat.org/wuf/2006/default.asp

>laura

gaviotas, a village to reinvent the world

a brief description of the ongoing reforestation work in Gaviotas, a town built in the Colombia llanos grass lands starting in the 1970s:

on the surface, a fairly straightforward effort to plant Caribbean Pines. the growing pines shade the soil and the needles add a mulch layer, changing the soil PH, which allow long-dormant seeds of hundreds of varieties of rainforest plants to sprout. animal life follows. the forest structure acts as a biofilter, and produces much improved water quality over the surrounding region, which in turn has spurred an industry which supplies potable water, eliminating a large proportion of the health problems in the area.

the pines produce resin used in paints, lacquers and cosmetics. low quality residuals of the resin production that can't be sold are used as a stabilizing/waterproofing element in rammed-earth blocks, which are used to construct most of the village's buildings. the plastic bags used to collect the resin are recycled into plastic irrigation pipe for the tree nursery.

the short planting season of the pines caused the Gaviotans to develop some of the most efficient tree planting equipment to be found anywhere, capable of planting one tree a second. their remote location and the difficulty of obtaining outside materials brought on the development of a new way of containerizing the resin which lowered costs and reduced wastes

also, the Japanese pay for the reforestation as part of a carbon pollution reduction credit system. carbon-polluting Japanese industries "buy" the sequestration of carbon in the forest.

it's one of those "wins", clustering on-the-ground innovation in a way that provides financial benefit for citizens, within sustainable limitations, and may begin to start a process of restoration, as the rain forest regenerates in central Colombia, outcrowding the pines

further research on clustering linked sustainable innovations:
www.zeri.org
www.friendsofgaviotas.org
Download shrimp_cluster_innovation_pauli.pdf

>laura

may day! may day! time for fika

time to reflect on work

may day is a day of worker solidarity
those who work stand together to demand better compensation and more respectful recognition of their labour, with origins in the struggle for an eight hour working day

it is one of the few international banking holidays

also, this year, may day falls on sunday, the christian day of rest, the day when god who created the world stepped back to reflect on his work

read an article recently about a company that implemented a "day off at work" once a month, this was not a holiday, but a time for workers to be together at work and reflect on their common project. the company found that the introduction of this monthly event meant that the quality of work increased dramatically, and the connections between people at the workplace deepened, which eased the working environment in numerous and immeasurable ways

they commented that they would not consider trading back an extra day of productivity for the positive changes within the company

it highlights for me, the value of this academic program, this incredible and necessary luxury, time to reflect on the purpose of the whole human project, to take a wide systems view, to pull back from engagement and gain perspective

also too, fika is a time in Sweden for meaningful conversation, a break in the working day to connect with people and reflect, this refreshment allows work to continue through the day with inspiration

it leads me to ask, what is the value of productivity for the sake of amassing piles of stuff? without reflection there is little value in our work, without clear vision of the intention of work, product quickly heaps up as obsolete garbage and we have to find something else to do with our busy hands and minds

i hold gratitude over the years to the workers who have put their lives and hearts at stake in order to slow down the productivity machine and gain time to reflect and remember the quality of being human, to tip the balance on the human side, and implicitly ask the question, what is it all for?

>laura